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<title>Miraculous One Shot Collection by A_Human42, Alyanette_Cloix, jumpingjoy82, kaiofsky1, ladynoir006, Mara_Jade101, miraculous_sunflower, MiraculousPenta, supreme_coffee_queen</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557735">Miraculous One Shot Collection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Human42/pseuds/A_Human42'>A_Human42</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyanette_Cloix/pseuds/Alyanette_Cloix'>Alyanette_Cloix</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpingjoy82/pseuds/jumpingjoy82'>jumpingjoy82</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaiofsky1/pseuds/kaiofsky1'>kaiofsky1</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladynoir006/pseuds/ladynoir006'>ladynoir006</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara_Jade101/pseuds/Mara_Jade101'>Mara_Jade101</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculous_sunflower/pseuds/miraculous_sunflower'>miraculous_sunflower</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraculousPenta/pseuds/MiraculousPenta'>MiraculousPenta</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/supreme_coffee_queen/pseuds/supreme_coffee_queen'>supreme_coffee_queen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(that's Mara's Section; I think), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Among Us AU, Angst, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Collection of Authors omg that sounds wierd, Daminette, Daminette Soulmate AU, Different Authors, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Gotham City - Freeform, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Going to Hell, Lila Rossi Bashing, Luka Couffaine Bashing, M/M, Maribat Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month, Mer AU, Mer!damian, Multi, Nino Lahiffe Is So Done, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Read, Rich Nino AU, Salt, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, There's A Tag For That, Uncle Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug), adrieneeeettteeee, bashing, fishnapping, good classmates, i looove chloe and sabrina's friendship, i'll tag later, i'm too lazy to tag, idek, lol, mer!Marinette, there you go; I hope that works</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:49:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,214</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557735</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Human42/pseuds/A_Human42, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyanette_Cloix/pseuds/Alyanette_Cloix, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpingjoy82/pseuds/jumpingjoy82, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaiofsky1/pseuds/kaiofsky1, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladynoir006/pseuds/ladynoir006, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara_Jade101/pseuds/Mara_Jade101, https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculous_sunflower/pseuds/miraculous_sunflower, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraculousPenta/pseuds/MiraculousPenta, https://archiveofourown.org/users/supreme_coffee_queen/pseuds/supreme_coffee_queen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>CHALLENGE! Random Miraculous One-shot work! If I invited you to co-create, please, write a one-shot, about ANYTHING Miraculous. I mean it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alix Kubdel/Lê Chiến Kim, Batfamily Members &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur, Gee Idek all of them so what and see, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Lila Rossi/Félix Graham de Vanily, Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>148</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If I invited you to co-create, please, write a one-shot, about ANYTHING Miraculous. I mean it. Bash whoever you want. Whatever ships you like, what characters. Add whatever tags. Just make sure that in the chapter notes you put who it was written by! Explicit stuff IS allowed, so reader beware. All I ask is that you don't post more than one-one shot (so a chapter) unless you ask me first, and please, please put some tags in. If you were writing a one-shot about a relationship that hasn't been tagged yet, tag it! If I invited you to co-create feel free to add other authors. The more the merrier!  If you got a co-creator invite and don't want to write, just reject it! No hard feelings! Just remember to read this! Also if you want to co-create, I will add you, but I'm no mind reader, so you need to tell me. Don't be shy! Post whatever you want! If you have questions ask me in the comments.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>CHALLENGE!<br/>
I'm inviting pretty much anyone to co-create on this work! Each person gets to post one one-shot. Rules are in the notes box. If you want to post a one-shot in this work, just ask, and I will check out your work and invite you! Alright, see yall gtg!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. If Two's a Party, and Three's a Crowd, then what is Four? (Luka/Adrien/Kagami/Marinette)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A first date in New York ends with an akuma attack. Will contain Crack Treated Seriously.</p><p>(Mainly Mara Jade's chapter. Adrien/Luka/Kagami/Marinette bc I support LGBT+/Poly relationships. Hate will be dealt with accordingly. Also, it contains Alya salt, Nino salt, Some classmates salt [not Nathaniel, Marc, Sabrina, Chloe, Juleka, Rose, and Alix salt; I actually like them], Lila salt, Chloe Redemption, Hawkmoth being a jerk... you know, the usual fanfic greats.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Wayne had to admit it, while she had NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS DOING, she was actually doing it well.</p><p>At least, she hoped it was.</p><p>Because for some reason (called love and "Let's Piss Off Gabriel Agreste"), she and her new partners (Adrien, Luka, and Kagami) had all decided to disobey Gabriel Agreste's orders to keep his son in Paris and taken Adrien to New York on the field trip they were supposed to be on.</p><p>And for some reason (called God Only Knows), she and her partners were currently walking around Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York City, New York with no one stopping them-</p><p>"Adrien? Are you okay?" Luka asked softly. "Your song is all over the place."</p><p>Adrien jerked his head away from the fort and looked up at their boyfriend. "...Yeah, I'm fine, Luka. I'm just-"</p><p>"Worried?" Marinette suggested.</p><p>He nodded. "Yeah, I'm worried. What if my father finds out about this and comes here to take me back to Paris? What if an akuma attack happens while we're in New York? What if-?"</p><p>Kagami laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "Breathe, Adrien. Your father may have already found out but is choosing not to interfere... for some reason."</p><p>"And I brought the Miracle Box with me, so we can travel to Paris using the Horse Miraculous anytime an Akuma attacks!" Marinette said with a smile.</p><p>Plagg flew up to Adrien's shoulder. "See, Kid? They know what they're doing! It's partly why I encouraged your- ahem. 'Kidnapping' to begin with."</p><p>"PLAGG!!" Tikki shouted, flying out of Marinette's purse where the Kwamis had been hanging out and attacking her counterpart. "GET BACK HERE, STINKY SOCK!!!"</p><p>Marinette and Adrien started laughing as the two Kwamis chased each other around the four, then someone screamed loudly. The group spun around to see an angelic like figure with huge white wings and a long white shirt, the edges decorated with golden Greek lettering as what was clearly a he hovered in the air. But what caught their attention the most-</p><p>was the ruby colored sword in his right hand.</p><p>He narrowed his light purple eyes at the four before a purple butterfly mask formed over his face. He frowned for a moment, then shook his head and flew in the other direction, back to the main urban part of Brooklyn.</p><p>"...That's an akuma." Adrien breathed, staring at the spot where it had been just a moment ago. "But what's it doing here?"</p><p>Marinette sighed in concentration. "Either Hawkmoth has gotten stronger..."</p><p>"Or he's in New York." Luka said evenly, though Marinette could see him tightening his fists. "What's the plan, Melody?"</p><p>She swallowed nervously. "The plan is..."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mara Jade: Whoo! I actually know what I'm doing!<br/>You can see the whole story when "Last of the Kid Detectives" comes out later this year!</p><p>Some Notes I had in mind:<br/>1) Marinette is Bruce Wayne's biological daughter, and she is well aware of it. Lila doesn't know though.<br/>2) Everyone in the Miraculous Team (which currently includes Marinette, Adrien, Luka, Kagami, Chloe, and Alix) knows each others' identities, for easier communication.<br/>3) The akuma is Guardian, an original Akuma of mine, and you will certainly see <b>him</b> again soon!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. the skeld</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>10 teens aboard a spaceship. Two impostors among them. Who will survive, and who will die?</p><p>An Among Us AU.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi, guys! miraculous_sunflower here. Thanks for taking the time for reading this fic. Special thanks to ladynoir006 for inviting me to be a part of this project, as well as hp_obsessed for helping me with the characters and also beta reading for me! :)  Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading, “The Skeld”.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette- pink, a flower circlet. A fashionista with a hamster ball because she loves hamsters and fashion…</p><p>
  
</p><p>Adrien- lime, kitty cat ears. Channeling his inner Chat Noir…</p><p>
  
</p><p>Alya- orange, dum sticker. Reporter extraordinaire! Dum sticker is courtesy of the lovely Marinette!</p><p>
  
</p><p>Nino- blue, headphones. He's just chilling...</p><p>
  
</p><p>Chloe- yellow, crown. *ahem ahem*, Queen Bee!</p><p>
  
</p><p>Sabrina- white, bunny ears. *sigh* I know that the outfit looks weird, but I tried my best! She looks pretty innocent though...</p><p>
  
</p><p>Kagami- red, sword in head. Fencing, ahaha, am I right?</p><p>
  
</p><p>Luka- cyan, mohawk. He looks awesome. Just awesome. Has some inner rockstar in him :)</p><p>
  
</p><p>Lila- brown, long weird funky hair. Hehe my friend and I couldn’t resist doing this!</p><p>
  
</p><p>Felix- black, top hat. Dark, and mysterious, perfect…</p><p>
  
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>PROLOGUE</p><p>Life on The Skeld was rough. The stress of running a spaceship and doing tasks, based on a small tablet with the rules and instructions, was piling on top of the ten high school students. Some of them were friends, while others were enemies. Unfortunately, the fights couldn’t be prevented. Luka hated that Marinette chose Adrien. Alya hated that she couldn't blog what was going on. Nino hated that his headphones wouldn’t work. Chloe hated not being in the comfort of her daddy’s hotel. Kagami hated that Adrien was so caught up with Marinette, that he wouldn’t even practice fencing with her. Felix hated that his parents probably wouldn’t worry about him. Sabrina hated that she left her lucky pin - the one Chloe gave her - with her father, back in Paris. Adrien hated that Felix had to be one of the unlucky ten on the ship. Marinette hated not being in the bakery; her home. And Lila hated that she was all alone on the spaceship - even Chloe the brat had a friend! Unfortunately, as the days went on, things got worse, and worse. It was impossible to run a spaceship - where there were normally over 50 staff members! Little did Marinette know that on the 13th day, misfortune would strike once again.</p><p>“Body in Storage. I repeat, body in Storage.” Felix reported. An emergency meeting was held straight away.</p><p>“Oh no! Sabrina!” Marinette gasped. </p><p>“What?!?!  Someone killed my friend! This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” Chloe snapped. </p><p>“Friend? I thought she was your servant, Chloe,” Alya smirked.</p><p>“Um, well, well she’s both!” Chloe’s face went red.</p><p>“Wait, a second, Sabrina’s <em>dead</em>?” Nino asked.</p><p>“Yes. Found her body in Storage. Didn’t see anyone.” Felix stated.</p><p>“Hold up. Our fellow crewmates are dying? Do you guys know what this means?” Alya nervously asked. </p><p>“Alya, what’s happening?” Adrien asked.</p><p>“There is someone, on this ship, who wants to take over.”</p><p><strong><em>There is an impostor among us.</em></strong> </p><p> </p><p> Marinette was the first to leave the table. She had to swipe her ID card, so she headed to Admin. <em>Beep!</em> Perfect. It only took one swipe. She noticed that someone else had come into Admin.</p><p>“Well hello there, Princess. Fancy seeing you here.” Adrien grinned.</p><p>Marinette tried not to crack a smile, but Adrien’s smile was adorable. She remembered Alya’s warning. <em>There is an impostor among us. Be careful. Trust no one.</em> She had said ‘Trust no one’, but come on! This was Adrien! Dorky, funny, and adorable Adrien! She really didn’t think he could kill someone.</p><p>Adrien carefully studied Marinette. Yes, his girlfriend had her game face on. She was probably determining the chances of him being the killer. “Marinette,” he looked into her eyes, and grabbed her hands, interlocking them with his, “I promise you, I’m not the impostor. I’d never kill anyone.”</p><p>Marinette showed a tiny smile. Adrien was telling the truth. She could see it in his eyes. “Alright, kitty. How about we stick together and protect each other?”</p><p>Her boyfriend grinned. “Yes! We could be secret agents! Hmmm, we need code names. Umm, oh, I’ll be Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir. The Black Cat.”</p><p>Marinette laughed. “Well, if you're a black cat, I’ll be Ladybug. I mean, good luck is the opposite of bad luck, right?”</p><p>If it was possible, Adrien’s grin grew even more. “Woah, we’ll be two parts of a whole!” He raised his eyebrows, up and down. “And that fits us pretty well, right?” </p><p>Marinette blushed, but smiled. “Yes, <em>Chaton</em>. It fits us pretty well.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Chloe thought this situation was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous! Sabrina was dead, so she didn’t know how to do her tasks! Ugh, where were her tasks anyway? She pulled up her tablet, which contained her tasks.</p><p>“Fix wires in Electrical. Where am I supposed to find Electrical?” She blurted out furiously.</p><p>She thought about the times before Sabrina was killed.</p><p>Flashback:</p><p>
  <em>”Oh, you have a task in Electrical? No worries, Chloe! I can show you how to get there!” Sabrina joyously exclaimed.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Chloe tried to bite back her smile, but couldn’t help it. She was too happy to have a real friend on the spaceship. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sabrina led her to Electrical. “Hey, Chloe, do you need help with your task?” Chloe was furiously messing with her distributor. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I don’t know how to do this thing!” She yelled furiously.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh Chloe, it’s alright. I can show you how. So what you want to do is calibrate it. Match the pointy part to the… </em>
</p><p>Chloe blinked twice, snapping herself out of the flashback. She needed to finish her tasks. She needed to. Sure, she had no friends left, but she had to do it. For Sabrina. Filled with a new burst of determination, she pulled up the map on her tablet. She found herself, a yellow crewmate, in Cafeteria. She also located Electrical. “Okay, so if I go down into Storage, then make a right, Electrical will be on the left. Got it.” Chloe took a breath in, and started her journey. </p><p>But as soon as she arrived in Electrical, she noticed something wrong. There, standing in the doorway, was Felix, holding a bloody knife. She saw Kagami’s bloody body behind him. Felix’s eyes widened when he saw Chloe, but relaxed.</p><p>“Felix? You’re the killer?” Chloe was too surprised to move.</p><p>Felix smirked. “No, I’m not the killer. <em>You are.</em>” He took his megaphone from his backpack, and raised it into the air. Chloe looked at him with a murderous gaze. “You wouldn’t dare…”</p><p>“Oh, I would. Body in Electrical. I repeat, body in Electrical.” Everyone around the ship headed to Cafeteria. </p><p>“Another body. Felix, see anything?” Marinette asked.</p><p>“Oh, Felix saw something, alright! I just saw Felix coming out of Electrical, where Kagami’s body is! It’s a self report!” Chloe yelled.</p><p>“Quite the opposite, actually. Marinette, to answer your question, I did indeed see something. Chloe ran into Electrical while Kagami and I were doing tasks, and sliced Kagami. I luckily saw her run away.” Felix calmly stated.</p><p>Marinette narrowed her eyes at both of them. “Felix and Chloe, what was your reason for going to Electrical?”</p><p>“Well, I had to download some important information regarding the electrical supply. I was going to upload it to the Admin HQ after.” Felix answered.</p><p>“Well, I was there to do a task.” Chloe bluntly stated.</p><p>Marinette got a bit annoyed. “What task, Chloe?”</p><p>Chloe froze. What task, what task, what task? “Oh, um, ah, I forgot.”</p><p>Marinette looked at her suspiciously. “How do you forget which task you have?”</p><p>“Well, before, Sabrina always helped me with my tasks,” Chloe looked at her nervously.</p><p>“Well, sorry Chloe, but Sabrina’s dead.” Nino said.</p><p>“Yeah, that sounds suspicious. I’m voting Chloe.” Alya stated.</p><p>“So am I, as I saw her do it.” Felix aimed a smirk at Chloe. Chloe glared at him.</p><p>“No please, you have to believe me. Please!” She desperately looked at Marinette. “Please, Marinette. If there’s an impostor, they would’ve killed Sabrina too. You know I’d never kill Sabrina!” Now here, Marinette was confused. All of the evidence pointed to Chloe, but this confused her. She knew how much Sabrina meant to Chloe…</p><p>“Lies. I saw her do it. I caught her in the act. The impostor is indeed Chloe.” Felix stated, once again. He was sure Chloe wouldn’t be able to escape his plan.</p><p>Chloe didn’t care about what Felix said. She just focused on Marinette. “Please, Marinette. If you don’t believe me, vote Felix out first. Then vote for me. I just don’t want to let anyone else get killed.”</p><p>Marinette thought that the idea was fair. “Alright. I will be voting Felix.” She glanced at Felix, who was stunned. He was sure his plan would work!</p><p>Alya and Felix were the ones who voted for Chloe, while the others voted out Felix. Adrien and Luka grabbed Felix by the arms and led him to Marinette, who opened the airlock that led to space. The three of them launched Felix outside, and watched his body shrivel up, floating in space.</p><p><strong><em>Felix was ejected.</em></strong> </p><p>Chloe gulped. She knew it was her turn now. </p><p>Marinette called another emergency meeting.<br/>
The rest of the crewmates turned to Chloe. “I’m sorry Chloe, but this is the only way to make sure one of you was the killer.” Marinette looked at her, apologizing with her eyes.</p><p>“It’s alright. I had this idea. At least no one will be murdered anymore.” Taking a deep breath in, she waved her hand. “Bye, everyone. It was fun working with you,” She turned around, ready to be launched into space.</p><p>“Chloe, it was fun working with you too. You’re so brave. You’re sacrificing yourself in order to protect your fellow crewmates. It’s an honor to call you my friend.” Marinette smiled at her.</p><p>Chloe gasped, but a tear of joy slid down her face. “Thank you, Marinette. I’ll never forget you.” </p><p>When she was blasted into space, there was only one thought in her mind.  And it was. She was a ghost now. She glided through walls, frantically looking for Sabrina. Suddenly, she saw a pale, white-colored ghost sobbing.</p><p>“Sabrina?” Chloe whispered.</p><p>The pale ghost jumped up, but then studied Chloe.</p><p>“Chloe? Is that really you?” Sabrina asked. Chloe nodded. The two ghosts, yellow and white, ran to each other, but then realised that they couldn’t give each other hugs.</p><p>“Oh Sabrina, I missed you so much!” Chloe sobbed out.</p><p>Sabrina looked at her happily. “I did too. I hated that I couldn’t talk to you. But I’ve always been there. I followed you, wherever you went.”</p><p>“You did? Oh Sabrina, I’m so happy to see you again,” A fresh new wave of tears ran down Chloe’s face.</p><p>“I am too. But don’t ever worry, Chloe. I’ll always be with you. In here.” Sabrina gestured to Chloe’s heart.</p><p>Chloe looked at her friend. Perhaps death wasn’t that bad. She was reunited with her friend. Her <em>friend</em>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Marinette blinked back tears. From the moment she arrived on the spaceship, she always thought Chloe was a brat. But no. She was wrong. Chloe was kind, so brave. Marinette would always remember Chloe. She picked up the crown that Chloe always wore, and placed it in the center of the meeting table. “She died a hero. She died protecting others. For that, we should honor her spirit.” There was a moment of silence.</p><p>Alya spoke up after a minute. “Okay, so now we are sure to have the killer out. Right?”</p><p>Marinette wiped the tears coming out of her eyes. “Yes, there should be no murders. Crewmates, continue on with your tasks.” Everyone shuffled out of Cafeteria, but Adrien stayed behind. </p><p>“I’m sorry about Chloe, Princess. But we had to. To protect the others, we needed to do it.”</p><p>Marinette looked at him. “I know, kitty. But I can’t help but be mad at myself for not realizing how kind Chloe was back then.” She looked at him wearily. “I’ve known her for years, and I’ve always thought she was snobby. But her spirit lives on, in the spaceship.”</p><p>Adrien cracked a smile at her. “Well, to cheer you up, how about we go on a task date?” </p><p>Marinette laughed at him. “Sure, kitty-cat. Let’s head to Weapons. I want to make sure there aren’t any asteroids that might hit our ship.”</p><p>The couple headed to Weapons, but as soon as they arrived, the lights went out. “Hey, that’s not good. No one has access to the lights except me,” Marinette suspiciously looked around, but she couldn’t see anything. “Adrien, Adrien where are you?” She reached her hand out.</p><p>“I’m here, Marinette,” Her hand touched another hand, and she immediately clasped it. </p><p>“We have to get to Electrical to fix the lights, Adrien.” Marinetet whispered.</p><p>“Okay, let’s go,” Adrien responded. They took baby steps, making sure there wasn’t anyone else around. They reached Electrical, and Marinette stepped to the lights panel. She flicked the switches until they all were light green. The lights started to come back on, one by one. </p><p>“Okay, that problem is fixed. Any idea why it happened?” Adrien asked Marinette, clearly able to see her now. He headed to the back of Electrical.</p><p>“No, I have no idea, unless-” She was interrupted by Adrien’s gasp. She ran to the back, and saw a bloody sight. </p><p>Standing on Alya’s body was Lila, whose back was turned around. When Lila heard Adrien’s gasp, she turned around. </p><p>“Oh, hi guys! Do you want to hear about the time I helped astronauts from Polus-” but she stopped when she noticed the dead body at her feet. She looked up at Marinette and Adrien, who had wide eyes. “Oh, guys, I swear, it’s not what it looks like-”</p><p>“Body in Electrical. I repeat, “Body in Electrical.” Marinette reported, glaring at Lila. Marinette and Adrien escorted Lila to Cafeteria. Couple seconds later, Nino showed up, and then Luka did.</p><p>“What?! Alya’s dead?! Oh god whoever killed her…” Nino looked at the ground with sad eyes, trying to hold back tears.</p><p>“Oh Nino, we’ll get justice for you. Because the killer is, drumroll please,” Adrien grinned, but Marinette shot him a death glare. “Lila.”</p><p>Nino gasped when he heard that. “Lila? How?”</p><p>“She was standing on Alya’s body. I’m really sorry, Nino,” Marinette went to comfort Nino, giving him a bear hug.</p><p>“No! I didn’t kill her! I was just trying to do my wires! I swear! It wasn’t me!” But no one believed Lila. When the time came, Adrien and Luka picked her up and launched her into space. Marinette watched Lila’s body shrivel up with a grim expression. Adrien put an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. </p><p>“I can’t believe Alya’s dead. My best friend,” She was still in shock.</p><p>“Hey, Princess. We got them all justice, right? Felix and Lila were the killers, so all of them got justice.” Little did the couple know that the ghosts were actually yelling at their stupidity, but they couldn't blame them. Lila was a liar, so the real impostor framing her was a genius idea.</p><p>Suddenly, the reactor meltdown alarm went off. Marinette’s eyes widened. No, this wasn’t good, not good at all. It meant that there was still an impostor among them. But who?</p><p>Marinette and Adrien ran to Reactor, one going up, other going down, to scan their hands to stop the meltdown. Luka and Nino weren’t in sight.</p><p>“Oh god, Adrien. We need to call an emergency meeting. We have to!” Marinette raced to Cafeteria, Adrien following her in hot pursuit. Marinette slammed the red button, and the emergency meeting siren was sounded throughout the ship. In a couple seconds, Luka showed up from Admin, but Nino was not in sight. 2 minutes passed, 5 minutes passed, 7 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed. Nino never showed up.</p><p>There was a sinking feeling that occurred in Marinette’s stomach. Nino was dead. That meant… it meant that Luka was the killer. Luka was the impostor among them all. </p><p>Adrien looked at her, and she looked at him. They slowly looked at Luka, who tried to look as innocent as possible.</p><p>“Well, Adrien, you tried. But you got caught,” Luka tried to frame Adrien.</p><p>Adrien glared at Luka. “Are you sure about that?”</p><p>“Yep. Well, Marinette,” Adrien didn’t like how Luka said his girlfriend’s name, “who do you think it is?”</p><p>Marinette looked at Luka with eyes that said, ‘Do you think I’m dumb?’. “Oh! Well, me and Adrien were on a task date,” Adrien smirked at Luka, who rolled his eyes, “sooo the only person who could have killed would be, hm, oh yeah! You!” </p><p>Luka fake gasped. “What? Why are you accusing me!? You’re probably helping Adrien…”</p><p>“This is so dumb. Princess, can we just launch him out?” Adrien was getting mad at Luka.</p><p>“Yeah, okay, we can.”</p><p>Adrien and Marinette tried to escort Luka to the airway, but Luka elbowed Adrien in the chest and grabbed Marinette’s hand. Adrien slammed into the window, groaning. Marinette thought he was unconscious. “Oh no, we’re launching <em>you</em>, Adrien.” Luka smiled.</p><p>“Adrien! No!” Marinette yelled. </p><p>Luka looked at Marinette. “Oh, sweet melody. I’ve always loved you. And now, you shall love me!” he laughed evilly. Marinette was still shocked that Luka killed so many innocent people.</p><p>“I can’t believe that this is the real you, Luka. I never would’ve guessed. I actually thought you were kind!” Marinette felt the tears burning her eyes. If Luka managed to launch Adrien, it was over. ‘<em>Deep breaths, Marinette. You’ve got this. Just make a plan</em>,’ she told herself. </p><p>Luka was only grabbing her arm, so her feet were pretty movable. She calculated the distance from her foot to Luka’s chest, then calculated how far away Adrien was. She'd have to hurt Luka pretty bad if she wanted her plan to work. On the count of three, she hurled her foot and it perfectly hit Luka’s chest. Luka fell onto the floor, groaning, but he made no sign of getting up. Marinette wasted no time of sprinting to Adrien, who was finally conscious. She helped him up.</p><p>“Okay, Adrien. We need to get Luka outside. We have to! Otherwise…”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Princess. I think we can do it.” Adrien answered.</p><p>They picked him up, and dragged him to the airlock. Marinette pressed her ID to the key lock, and the airlock opened. Using the last remaining strength that either of them had, they both pushed Luka out of the airlock.</p><p>“Did it work?” Adrien asked, out of breath.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Luka was ejected.</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“It did. It worked!” Marinette threw her arms around Adrien. Adrien returned the gesture. They both started crying, as the loss of their friends finally sank in.</p><p>
  <em>Alya, Marinette’s first friend on the spaceship. She welcomed Marinette, showed her how to do most of her tasks. Marinette would always be thankful for Alya’s love and help.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Nino, Adrien’s first friend. Adrien had a toxic life before coming to the spaceship, but Nino made him laugh everyday, whether it was funny turtle memes, or just being himself. Adrien would always be thankful for Nino’s love and help.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Kagami. Even if Kagami had a crush on Adrien at some point in time, she was still a very good friend of Marinette and Adrien. If someone criticized Marinette’s decision, for example if she wanted to build a new reactor, Kagami would always be there to back her up. Adrien and Marinette would always be thankful for Kagami’s love and help.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sabrina. Sabrina was their latest recruit, but she’d been so helpful, whether it be setting up the tables for dinner, or cleaning the Cafeteria. Marinette, Adrien, and the whole crew would be thankful for Sabrina’s help.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Lila. Well, Lila was a liar, but there were some noble moments. She helped explain to Adrien how the trash chute worked. She waited to watch people’s medscan. Even if she was mean sometimes, she truly was a pretty good person.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finally, Chloe. Chloe was mean to Marinette in the beginning, but that was just out of jealousy. She was jealous of how many friends Marinette had. She was jealous of Marinette’s position. But even if she was mean, she was kind at the end. She sacrificed herself in order to protect others. She was brave, so brave, and Marinette was guilty for not seeing it until the end. But as the golden crown sits in the middle of the meeting table, all the ghosts, who used to be crewmates on the ship, remain on the ship. Their spirit lives on.</em>
</p><p>The couple sat down on the nearest sofa, exhausted from their blood filled day. </p><p>“Marinette, do you think our friends are still with us?” Adrien asked.</p><p>“Of course they are. They will always be with us, in here.” Marinette gestured to her heart.</p><p>The couple gazed out at the starry night of the galaxy, wishing for a better day of the Skeld.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello! I hope you enjoyed reading this! I'm thinking of making this apart of a series where this fic will be joined with two other fics, "Mira HQ" and "Polus". Be sure to check out some of my other fics! Anyways thanks for reading! That's it for today, so stay safe and pawsome! Bug out!<br/>-miraculous_sunflower</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Hello, Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Made by Jumpingjoy82<br/>Daminette one-shot</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“TODD,” screamed Damian, “I WILL KI-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Know you won’t. Already died once, and B has that no-kill rule, Demon Spawn, or did you forget?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian fumed. He was ready to just go ahead and blow up everything that Jason held dear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then </span>
  <em>
    <span>STILL</span>
  </em>
  <span> go on too severely maim him since his Father does have that no-kill rule.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There is always some kind of loophole in this family.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>While Jason was running like a bat out of hell, with Damian chasing him, the weirdest thing happened.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian’s phone rang. He usually would not have stopped, but it had some really weird ring tone. It went,</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Miraculous, simply the best</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Up to the test when things go wrong</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Miraculous, yeah, I got this</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>I gotta confess, I feel so strong ~</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What got him was that it sounded like some kind of magical girl shit that Dick would have. Definitely not Demon Spawn. What confused him, even more, was the tone and nickname he used when he answered.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>First, he scowled at Jason one last time, turned around, and said, “Hello, Angel.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Angel,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jason thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell did I just hear?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <span>-A Week Later-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette was thrilled. She was finally going to meet his family. Whenever Damian suggested it, she was never ready, but now she just decided to surprise him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Marinette started spiraling, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what if he doesn’t want to see me? Or if he had something to do today? Oh Kwami, this a disaster! A DISASTER!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“-inette! Marinette!” Tikki was calling, “He will want to see you. I’m sure of it. Have faith in yourself Marinette.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Your right Tikki. Ladybug would never think that, so neither will Marinette.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As Marinette went on to knocking, a man with a British accent opened the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, Miss. How may I be of service?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“My name is Marinette, and I am here to see Damian!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Come along this way then Miss Marinette”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As she walked down through the manor, she noted the different halls and exits. They stop when they get to the living room, with everyone but the girls present.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I’m glad that you are here, Angel. But what are you doing here? You said you didn’t want to meet my family yet.” He said, giving her a hug.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I changed my mind. I want to see your pets in person.” She said, giving a bright smile that had them squinting, grabbed his hand, and promptly walked out</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was quiet for a few beats.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What the FUCK just happened!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Chaos Ensued</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This one's based on the Rich Nino AU by Tumblr's sparklyaxolotlstudent (https://sparklyaxolotlstudent.tumblr.com/post/626074618204192768/storyecho-sparklyaxolotlstudent).<br/>Hope y'all like it!<br/>Gabriel salt, Adrienette, platonic Adrinino.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“And what are </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> doing here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nino groaned internally at Gabriel’s sneering voice. He’d just wanted to have a nice time at the gala his parents were hosting, and he’d been happy to hear the Agrestes were coming because that meant hanging out with Adrien. He’d also heard Adrien had invited Marinette as a plus-one, so that would be nice, too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me my son was foolish enough to invite you here,” Gabriel drawled. “I suppose I might have to punish him for stepping out of line…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not many people knew Nino’s family was loaded. His parents worked well to ensure Nino stayed humble, and he certainly appreciated not being given the chance to turn into someone like Chloe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then an idea his parents might not approve of hit him. Well… not right away, at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Really, I could ask the same of you,” Nino shot back. “What’s young money like you doing here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gabriel barked out a laugh at that, but quickly regained his composure. “You don’t mean to tell me that a nothing-but-trouble hooligan like you is on my level?” he sneered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re the only one acting like a hooligan, dude,” Nino pointed out, “Looking down on others just because they seem less powerful than you? I don’t think our hosts would appreciate someone like you at this event.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This seemed to remind Gabriel of something. Checking his watch, he said, “Speaking of them, I have a business deal I intend to strike with the Lahiffes. I must be off now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How fucking dumb could this man be? Nino could only wonder. “Then good luck with that,” he shrugged. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gabriel took the opportunity to walk away. Nino gave it a few seconds before he took off for where his dads were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he reached them, they were talking with Adrien and Marinette. As he approached, Marinette and Adrien greeted him kindly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good to see you guys,” Nino said quickly before he turned to his dads. “Just warning you guys: Gabriel Agreste - Adrien’s dad - is coming this way. He fits just about every word you guys don’t want me using at parties.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Farid and Salah Lahiffe merely raised eyebrows. Marinette - who was dating Adrien on the down-low - decided to help Nino.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t he responsible for getting you akumatized?” Marinette supplied innocently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?!” Farid’s eyes widened. “He’s Hawkmoth?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, he was akumatized,” Adrien said, “but on my birthday, Father refused to let Nino throw me a party. He also banned Nino from the mansion, which led to him getting akumatized.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that why I never see you with your bubble blowers anymore, Nino?” Salah said softly. Nino only nodded. </span>
</p><p><span>“Well, we won’t be doing business with him, then,” Salah scowled. “He also won’t be invited to any parties after this one… though if Adrien is well-behaved, he will be allowed.”</span><span><br/></span> <span>“Not like he’d let me…” Adrien sighed. </span></p><p>
  <span>Farid then said, “Salah, love, can we talk for a minute?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nodding, Salah and Farid walked to a corner. After a few minutes, they returned to Adrien, Marinette and Nino, who had been enjoying some Dupain-Cheng cupcakes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Adrien,” Farid said, “if you ever feel unsafe with your father or even need to be away from him, call Nino. You have a temporary home with us, if need be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“R-really?” Adrien (who had been wanting to get away from Gabriel for a few years now) whispered. Nino was also wide-eyed, though it changed to a look of utter glee quickly after.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You should totally take them up on this,” Marinette nodded, “I trust Nino’s parents to be good to you… and I certainly trust them to be better than Gabriel.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you take me tonight?” Adrien asked. “Not to sound pushy, but…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nodding amongst each other, Salah asked Adrien to tell them everything. Once he’d finished, Farid called security and requested that Gabriel be held down until the police arrived to arrest him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Gabriel and Nathalie were dragged out, Gabriel threw two things that managed to land into his hand - the Moth Miraculous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The need for therapy intensified. At least Adrien had the Lahiffes now.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. And They All Fall Down Sneak Peek</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cat Noir is a famous spy. He has two rules-he doesn't work with anyone and he is loyal to nobody.But a certain red-spotted spy may change his mind and take his heart.<br/>The only question is, will she give it back?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey y'all! Its ladynoir006 here!<br/>So this is interesting. I've never  written a story like this.<br/>This is actually a sneak peek for a story I will post towards the end of Febuary, called "The All Fall Down".<br/>I'm not sure if I am going to edit this clip or not befor it goes into my story, so it might be almost unrecognizable, but you'll see most of my dialogue, I think. I hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chat Noir couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, in Gabriel Agreste's manor. <em>He </em>would have the information before MGSA. A smile spread over his face. All he had to do now was take a look around. </p><p>Chat Noir has no idea what MGSA stood for. He wouldn't have cared, but since they are, for some reason, <em>very </em>secretive over what their name meant. Chat Noir knows that must mean that the name reveals their purpose. However, that really isn't a smart idea. Chat figures the "SA" must mean "Spy Agency", but the rest he wasn't sure of. Another thing he wasn't sure of is why they were after him. Chat doesn't belong to an actual organization. He would <em>never. </em>So what do they want from him?</p><p>Maybe he's after similiar information as they are, which brings him back to reality. He needs to get to the blue/red haired assitant's white ipad. It should contain everything. He might, however take a bit more of a look around the manor. </p><p>With a bit of luck, he may (although it's really not his objection) find information on the missing wife and son of Gabriel Agreste. </p><p>Gabriel's son, named Adrien Agreste, dissapeared shortly after birth, and no bodies have been found. Chat doesn't know his own birthdate, or even his real name, and he used to wish that he was the missing kid. He used to imagine himself living in the mansion, imagine himself actually having a father, imagine himself having money to join a fencing class, one of his favorite pass-times. </p><p>But Chat Noir has no time for silly, impossible dreams like this. There's really no reason to procrastinate. He's disabaled every security camera and system. He managed to get in. Chat knows that if he dwaddles too much, he could become discovered. The assistant and Mr. Agreste are fast asleep.</p><p>Suddenly he hears a voice, practically making jump out of his cat suit. </p><p>"Stand by," the voice says, probably into a walkie. The voice is clearly female. <em>Another spy</em>.</p><p>"I can hear you!" Cat Noir exclaims a little too loudly. Suddenly the closet door near him creaks open and an arm reaches out and grabs Cat Noir's shoulder. Suddenly Cat Noir is yanked in, the door clicks shut, and he is pushed against a wall with brute strength. A gloved hand covers his mouth and conceals his yelp of pain. </p><p>"What sad excuse of a spy are <em>you</em>?" the same voice sasses. </p><p>"Ephhcuuff mphh," Chat Noir huffs. The female spy takes her hand off his mouth and flicks the closet light on. </p><p>She's dressed in a costume, ladybug-themed, that clings tight to her skin, showing her goddess-like curves. She has midnight-blue hair and beautiful sky-blue eyes. Chat realizes he must be ogling her too much when she clears her throut. </p><p>"You have something of <em>mine, </em>pussy-cat," she says. As much as he wants it to be, shes <em>not </em>being playful. But what does she want of his? Chat Noir doesn't have a clue. "And I'll give you a chance to hand it over without a fight."</p><p>"You have something <em>I </em>want too," Chat Noir purrs. Her eyes widen and she punches him in the face. If Chat wasn't using his miraculous, his nose would be broken. </p><p>"You pervert! Give. Me. The. Miraculous!" she commands. Chat Noir's eyes widen. She wants his ring. The reason he's so stealthy. (Kind of.) The reason he's a spy. The reason he's not on the streets.</p><p>"Thats not <em>yours</em>!" says Chat. "Someone gave it to me!" The female spy pulls out a badge out of her yoyo.</p><p>"I'm from the Miraculous Gaurdian Spy Agency," she explains. "The miraculouses belong to <em>us</em>. We use and protect them. You need to return the ring <em>now."</em></p><p>"Over my dead body," Chat noir retorts. He doesn't have time for this. He needs to get the ipad.</p><p>"Will do," Ladybug says, pulling a pistol with a silencer on him. Chat Noir freaks out a little. She wants his ring <em>so much</em> that she'd kill a person?</p><p>"Cataclysum!" he exclaims, and reaches to cataclysum the pistol. She grabs his arm with incredible strength. </p><p>"Don't underestimate me, kitty," she says. </p><p>"You're cute, but you can't fool me!" Chat Noir exclaims. "A cat always lands on its feet. Put done the weapon and I'll put mine down." She considers this. She knows she can't get his ring when he's activated cataclysum.</p><p>"Fine, but you first," she demands, handing him a cookie. He looks at her like she's insane.</p><p>"Do you not know <em>anything</em>, pussy-cat?" she sasses. "You can't just deactivate cataclysum. You have to use it." He rolls his eyes and cataclysums the cookie. He waits for her to drop the weapon. She doesn't. She keeps it aimed at him.</p><p>"How clever. You flat-out lied," He snorts. But truly, he's frusturated. Why does he keep trusting her?</p><p>"I'm known for my cleverness," she says, flipping her hair playfully. "I wonder, Chat. Would you spend all your nine lives with me?" she asks. She batts her eyelashes at him, lowering her gun. </p><p>"I don't know. Are you falling for me, M'Lady?" Chat Noir flirts. She walks up to him, closer, closer, closer...</p><p>And puts the barrel of the gun to his neck.</p><p>"Welp," she says, shrugging her shoulders, "I guess curiousity killed the cat!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Fishnapped</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Mer!mari is caught and taken to land where Damian and her friends follow to come to her rescue.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Written by BadWolfTen </p><p>Thanks for the invite.<br/>I present my contribution to this collection! Mer!Mari and Mer!Damian</p><p>#fishnapped #Happy ending #Daminette #Not a salt fic #lila, chloe, sabrina mentioned but not in detail #Classmates are friends not food... #no beta i die like a robin</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their underwater home was one of many mer cities in the world’s oceans and like most of them they had their own hierarchy and roles.</p><p>Marinette and her family’s role was working in the palace. She’d made a few friends in the palace, some were the children of staff, like Alya whos parents worked in the kitchens and stables and Nino who had come to work in the palace to support his younger brother after poachers got their parents.</p><p>But there were also several people that she didn’t get along with. And unfortunately, most of them were children of powerful individuals within the city. Meaning that as much as Marinette wanted to scratch or bite into them with her sharp teeth it would only end badly.</p><p>One of the only people she didn’t dislike was Adrien whos father often worked along the batmer’s. The royal family of their kingdom. But unlike the Lila, Chloe and Sabrina, he didn’t make a habit of flaunting his fathers influence to get his way.</p><p>Though finding the time to spend with her friends was hard she somehow managed it until she was given a new task.</p><p>Serve the young Batmer that had just arrived. At first people thought that the king had merely taken in another leather tailed mer. It wouldn’t have been uncommon. He’d made a habit of taking in orphans or mistreated mers with leather tales similar to his own. The tail was a rare mutation some mer’s were born with, the leather tough like shark skin and much harder to puncture than a normal mer’s scales.</p><p>The king made sure all his leather tailed children were well trained, be them male or female to help protect their city if needed. She’d seen some of the prices with their weapons patrolling or fighting off sharks before. They made it to journey in and around their city.</p><p>But this new boy… well… apparently unlike the King’s other children, this one shared his blood.</p><p>Not that you could tell. He was a right Kraken to deal with. His demands were often unreasonable and she’d been yelled at more than a few times by the boy. She did not like him at all.</p><p>But then one day she’d knocked on his door to bring the snappy boy his food and hadn’t received an answer. After another try she let herself in, fully intending to just leave her burden on a table and leave.</p><p>She certainly hasn’t expected to see the other mer twisting and thrashing silently in his bed, sheets twisted around him half thrown off, giving her a clear view of his scarred skin. Now it made sense why he would wear so much compared to most mer’s.</p><p>Most of them didn’t like to cover up so heavily, often things on their skin or scales could get caught on their scales or fins or irritate their skin. But that many scars… some were still pink and fresh.</p><p>Marinette gulped backing up slightly, putting the tray down as quietly as she could… she was conflicted though… Does she wake him up from what was obviously a nightmare? Or does she leave? He’d hardly given the impression that he would accept anyone’s help, let alone hers… but wouldn’t leaving him be too cruel?</p><p>She bit at her lip, grimacing as one of her sharp teeth pierced it. She couldn’t leave and she knew it.</p><p>She hesitated before finally approaching the bed. Doing her best to stay out of the way of his thrashing tail. A batmer’s tail was strong… much stronger than her own and she would be badly bruised over the next week if she got hit by it.</p><p>Marinette settled by the head of the bed, she really didn’t know how to settle him down. Should she call for him or reach out and wake him? maybe she should do what her maman does when she used to wake up from a nightmare?</p><p>She nodded. That might work. She hums out a tune for a while before starting to sing lightly. Marinette watched as Damian initially stiffened, frowning and showing his teeth before slowly relaxing again. He still twitched and his tail still thumped against the bed several times before finally he seemed to settle.</p><p>With him somewhat better she collects the food and leaves the room. Hoping that his nightmares don’t return and that he wouldn’t find out that she’d been in there at all.</p><p>He seemed a little less cranky the next time she’d had to serve him. Still far from a joy, but he only snapped at her once, so she counted that as a win.</p><p>The prince went back to his usual grumpy self a few says later.</p><p>Her friends had even pointed out the temporary mood change. Especially Adrien who, being Prince Damian’s age, was expected to interact with him daily. They all speculated on what changed his mood, but while Marinette thought that maybe it was a decent nights rest that helped him, she certainly wasn’t going to say anything about what she’d seen or done.</p><p>But then the grouchy prince’s elder brothers started asking around for good singers… at first she waved it off as the two of them just looking to play around. But after some of the kingdoms best songstress’s had sought audiences with the elder princes it became more apparent that they weren’t playing but searching.</p><p>She tried to keep her head low even when Damian’s attitude continued to worsen until one day she’d had enough, sneaking through the palace one evening and ending up in the youngest princes room again and watching him once again in the throws of a nightmare. Marinette sighed and once more settled at the head of the bed, humming and singing for the other until he calmed.</p><p>His green eyes snapped open and focused on her, his hand reaching out to grip her wrist, “you…” he said and frowned.</p><p>Marinette closed her eyes, fulling expecting the be yelled at or punished for her trespass.</p><p>“Keep singing.” He said.</p><p>Marinette’s eyes shot open at the order, she certainly hadn’t expected him to want her to continue.</p><p>His eyes filled with annoyance, “sing.”</p><p>Marinette shook the confusion away and did as she was told. Though she didn’t understand why he would want to hear her voice. It wasn’t bad… but there were many others in the kingdom with better voices.</p><p>Eventually his eyes grew heavy and he once more succumbed to sleep. Though she had needed to remain in her place at the side of his bed for the entire night since his secure grip on her wrist didn’t seem to be loosening any time soon.</p><p>--</p><p>It became a habit for them. Damian would have her sing for him to keep his nightmares at bay and in turn this became her sole duty in the palace… technically her duty was serving Prince Damian. But the boy was mostly self-sufficient and rarely asked her to do anything but bring him his meals and keep his room clean. Not a hard task since he kept if pretty sparse. So for the most part, her biggest job was keeping away his nightmares.</p><p>He’d gone to bed the first night of her official duties fully clothed. “there’s no point making yourself uncomfortable just because I’m here. My job is to make sure you sleep and how can you possibly do it under all of those uncomfortable textures. Besides. I’ve already seen you without your layers twice, I wont tell anyone what happens here. So please try to get comfortable.”</p><p>Damian had bared his teeth at her that night stubbornly going to bed in all his layers, only to regret it the next morning when his skin was chafed and red.</p><p>She didn’t say anything when he took her advice the following night.</p><p>But overall, the ability to sleep uninterrupted and undisturbed by nightmares did wonders for the previously hostile prince. And she got to spend more time with her friends between her own tasks.</p><p>She’d even managed to get him to interact with her friends on occasion. Only small comments at first to most of them though he did manage to hold something resembling a conversation with Adrien for a short time.</p><p>But eventually he seemed to start interacting with people a little more though he didn’t seem to be more comfortable around her than anyone else. No surprise considering they steadily started spending more time together.</p><p>--</p><p>It wasn’t just Marinette’s friends he’d grown close to. He’d grown a little less distant with his brothers also. And unfortunately, they’d picked up on the fact that Damian had gained some social skills meaning he was then expected to interact with the other children with influential parents.</p><p>Which meant these peoples parents were constantly throwing proposals out to his father in an attempt to snare their daughter a place by his side. He found it distasteful how these girls would try so hard to gain his favour without ever actually learning or talking with him. How to them he was nothing but a way to move up in status. Marry the blood heir and be the future queen. He scoffed at the thought. Shameless.</p><p>But he was getting older now… and he would have to marry eventually. His brothers all had. Dick had Barbara, Jason married a princess from a far-off sea called Koriand’r and Tim had Stephanie…</p><p>Regardless of his family’s and their subjects expectations he couldn’t even tolerate many of the female mer’s in the court, let alone like one enough to even consider settling down with them.</p><p>He sighed in annoyance. If only Marinette had family in the higher levels of their societies, then he could marry her. The thought of her becoming his princess certainly wasn’t unpleasant. In fact… the more he thought about it, the more determined he became. Marinette was the only mer he intended to marry and he had no plans to change his mind on that.</p><p>Damian had been worried that his family would refuse his chosen mate but thankfully none of them had cared for her status. A stark difference against how his mother’s family would have reacted. Their brutal views and expectations… Marinette wouldn’t stand a chance against them. Open ocean mer’s were much more hostile that those that live in cities like this. They didn’t have the same protections and defences, and the need to kill was a requirement for survival. The open ocean had many creatures that would happily feast on mer flesh.</p><p>Still. It was a relief to have his family’s support. But he still had to plan how to ask her…</p><p>--</p><p>It wasn’t uncommon for Marinette and her friends to wander outside their city’s walls and Damian had gone with them on occasion. Mostly because he didn’t want her going into the open ocean without protection. So he intended to ask her on their outing today. He’d already told the others that he planned to steal her away for a moment during their outing. Though no doubt her friends would be creeping around eavesdropping.</p><p>Everything was going according to plan. His father had even given him his grandmother’s pearl necklace to give to Marinette as his proposal gift, Marinette’s friends had deliberately fallen behind and he and Marinette were swimming together.</p><p>What wasn’t according to his plan was the large net the scooped her through the water, pulling her captured form through the water and he tries his best to swim after her. Gritting his teeth as she was pulled up out of the water. Her friends had seen what happened and had done their best to catch up also. Adrien was the fastest swimmer out of all of them so Damian snapped for him to follow the boat.</p><p>He turned to the others. “We need to go to Poison Algae. If the humans take her to land, we need to be able to follow. Nino, take your brother back to city to inform my father and bothers of what has happened.”</p><p>The others nodded Nino hesitated for a moment.</p><p>“Don’t worry Nino, I will get her back. But you don’t need to go through this again after what happened to your parents. Get back to the city and stay safe.” Damian ordered.</p><p>Nino nodded, gesturing for his scared younger brother to follow him close as they turned to swim back to the city.</p><p>“If anyone else wished to stay within the safety of the city then you may leave now. Otherwise we go to Poison Algae’s cave.” Damian said. Alya, Luka, Alix, Kim and Ivan staring at him resolutely while the others hesitated. “Go home.” He said to the others, “Your hesitance will make you vulnerable. And a smaller group will be a smaller target.”</p><p>Some of them mumbled apologies before following Nino’s trail back to the city.</p><p>Damian looked over the others that remained. This was still more people than he felt comfortable protecting. But at least three of them were decent fighters and one was gifted in siren song.</p><p>--</p><p>Marinette was terrified as the net hit the floor of the human’s ship. She’d always heard stories about poachers who took mermaids away as trophies or would tear mers apart to eat their flesh or use their teeth and scales.</p><p>The humans around her cheered loudly and her panic only grew when she heard them talking about how happy their ‘boss’ would be to have another mermaid to add to their collection.</p><p>She tried to claw her way to the side of the boat only to get tied up in horrible itchy ropes and heaved into a holding tank.</p><p>She sank to the bottom unable to move properly with he bonds and cried. She would probably never see her friends or family again… or Damian…</p><p>--</p><p>Poison Algae’s cave wasn’t an overly long swim from where they had been, but the toxic mer was known to be unpredictable and moody in dealing with strangers. However, she was also renowned for having the largest assortment of Magical plants in the Atlantic. Hopefully they were about to catch her in a good mood.</p><p>But of course that thought was swatted away when they were entangled in kelp.</p><p>“Here I was thinking I’d been obvious enough in my desire to be left alone. But apparently not if young mers come trespassing in my territory.” A woman comes to circle the group, her brilliant red hair offset by beautiful green scales, her veins stark green strands up creamy skin. Apparently a side effect of her work with the underwater plant life.</p><p>Damian took a breath. He had to <em>try</em> to be diplomatic here. Even though he didn’t have the time, he knew he couldn’t fight this woman. “Algae. We’ve come to ask for your assistance. The mer I intend to marry was snatched away in a net before me and I intend to find and retrieve her. However I believe your help will be needed should the humans have taken her to land.”</p><p>“You want my plants. My answer is no.” Algae says baring her sharp teeth.</p><p>He grit his own teeth. “Please. If there is anything I can do for you in exchange I will do my best to. But I <em>need</em> to get my future betrothed back. <em>Please.</em>”</p><p>Damian could tell that Marinette’s friends were baulking at his sudden manners. But they weren’t his priority and he could threaten them to silence later on when Marinette wasn’t in danger.</p><p>Another mer showed their face and cooed. “Awww. Sounds like young love, Come on Red, stop bein’ such a downer. Ya remember when that crazy fisherman came and scooped me up. Jack Nappy something. Kept me for ages, I thought I was gunna die ‘til ya came and got me.” Algae sighed at the new voice. “come on Red. Let em try… For me? Pretty please with fish flakes on top?”</p><p>Algae sighed at the blonde mer’s pleas. “Fine my little Clownfish. But only for you.”</p><p>“Yay! You’re the best Red!” The blond says swimming close and wrapping herself around Algae, planting a big kiss on the others cheek.</p><p>The kelp around them loosens but she sends them a warning glare. “Wait here while I get what you need.”</p><p>They nod staying back while Algae disappeared back in her cave.</p><p>“She’s a lucky thing to have ya lookin’ for her like this. Most people are too scared to go to land. Cant blame ‘em though. My short stay wasn’t very nice and I was just on a boat I never hit the real human world.” Harley said swimming around them happily.</p><p>--</p><p>She’d been pulled out of the depths of the tank by her rope and transferred to another one on wheels, already this new and strange water was irritating her skin, gills and lungs making it harder for her to breathe properly. They unloaded her off the boat and she could see the dark and dirty human world around her. Everything was grey and hazy and some humans looked at her in fascination, others with what Marinette could only call a leer as they took her watery prison past them. Loading her into a strange square thing with no light once they sealed her inside.</p><p>She could feel it moving and hear some of the water splashing over the sides of her cage.</p><p>But it wasn’t long before it stopped and the light came back.</p><p>A short, stout man that looked similar to a penguin stood in the light watching her. “What a pretty young thing you boys caught for me. I think she’s start tank material.” The human said gesturing to her, several others moving to transport her once again.</p><p>Marinette was bought into a human building and taken into another strange box. Only this one played some kind of music and moved up?</p><p>There was a ding, the box opened again and the humans were moving her once more. She could see the room they had just been in below. Only now she could see the tanks. She wasn’t the only mer these human had taken and put here.  Each tank seemed to have a mer in it. Mostly females but there was two tanks off to one side with both male and female mers in them.</p><p>She could see through the floor into another tank, only instead of rolling past the humans stopped and opened the clear floor. Reaching into the tank and untying the roped before hauling her out. She did her best to thrash, bite and claw but one swift hit with the humans foot had her cast into the tank below.</p><p>She hisses and gasps as she breathes in the water. It burns. She claws at her gills and throat until she eventually runs out of energy and the short shallow panicked breaths stop being enough and she loses consciousness.</p><p>--</p><p>Adrien met them half-way from Poison Algae’s cave having watched as the boat reached land. He was exhausted. He’d never swam so long for so fast before. Thankfully his directions were decent enough that Damian didn’t need to force him to swim for much longer. Instead he directed Kim and Alix to stay with him and get him back to the city safely.</p><p>This left him with Alya, Luka and Ivan probably for the best really. They didn’t know how long it would take to find Marinette and Algae had only given them so much to use, less people meant more time to look.</p><p>Thankfully the directions given to them were accurate, they found the bay Adrien had mentioned and even though getting closer to it made their gills burn all of them were determined to put up with it to retrieve Marinette.</p><p>Once close the docks they each ate a small piece of the plant, their tails becoming human legs, allowing them to walk among the humans. It would last them a few hours and they only have a handful of pieces left.</p><p>They stole some clothing when the chance presented itself. He and Ivan still had their weapons, no warrior would ever be caught without one. And Damian had the feeling that his blade would taste its first drop of human blood today… and a lot more after that. Noone steals his future mate without facing his wrath.</p><p>--</p><p>Thankfully finding out about mers in the city wasn’t as hard as they were expecting. Threaten a few humans with dismemberment and they are more than willing to talk.</p><p>The group had followed directions to a place called the ‘Iceberg Lounge’. Though they were not prepared for what they saw walking to the dark, smokey room. Tanks scattered around with sick mers, humans treating their presence as something to amuse themselves.</p><p>His grip on his sword tightened when he saw Marinette in the largest tank up the front being gawked at and prodded by humans in an attempt to make her eat a live fish. The idiots. Mari didn’t eat fish, let alone living ones.</p><p>A few of the humans notices his and Ivan’s weapons at the ready and fled the building. Others however, took that as an invitation to fight. And Damian was more than willing to accommodate them.</p><p>He could hear Luka singing, the sound muddling some of the humans senses and giving him and Ivan the chance to put several of them down. Some of them had strange projectile weapons. He got hit in the shoulder by one and it hurt badly, but he wasn’t going to stop fighting until he had Marinette back in the ocean and safe.</p><p>The last few humans fell, and Alya made short work of breaking into the tanks and giving each mer a piece of the plant Algae had given them. They had enough time that they could get all these mers back to the bay before their own wore out.</p><p>He approaches Marinette’s tanks watching as she smiles brightly at him. “You came for me.”</p><p>“Of course I did Marinette. You’re my most important person.” He said before breaking the glass and catching her as the water rushed out. “I have something for you.” he said. “I planned to give it to you before but you got swept away by that horrible net.”</p><p>Alya dropped a piece of the kelp into Marinettes hand before continuing on to the others. While Ivan and Luka checked the rest of the building for other mers.</p><p>Marinette had eaten the plant and was now standing on shaky legs allowing damian to reach to his sword handle and untangle the strand of pearls that had been strung around it. “Will you become my mate Marinette? Become my princess?” he asked holding them out. “of course… the blood will wash off when we get back to the ocean…” he cringed and looked away, giving her a soiled engagement gift, what was he thinking.</p><p>He looked up at Marinette when he felt her hands rest on his. “Yes. Yes. Of course I will. I loved you before now. But you have journeyed to the human world to rescue me of course I’m going to marry you!”</p><p>Damian lets out an anxious breath. She actually said yes to him… The killer mer from the open ocean.</p><p>“will you put them on me?” She asks.</p><p>He nods mutely reaching for his clothing to try and wipe some of the blood off only for Marinette to stop him.</p><p>“don’t be ashamed of what happened here Damian. These humans have held us here, harmed and killed us for fun. If you hadn’t done what you did who knows how much longer any of us would have lasted.” Marinette said, getting nods and words of agreement from those around them.</p><p>Damian nods uncertainly before holding out the pearls and securing them around her neck.</p><p>The others return to the room with another couple of mers and finally Damian declares that it is time for them to leave.</p><p>Once back in the water the plant’s magical effects wore off, leaving them all with their gills and tails. Some of the mers left in a hurry to get back to their own cities, but a lot stayed with them, grateful to their saviours and having nowhere else to go.</p><p>Marinette was relieved when the city and palace finally came into sight. Damian’s wound was still bleeding and a lot of the mers that had been taken needed a healer as quickly as possible. Thankfully, the other princes seemed to have been patrolling while waiting for their return and the guards were used to help ferry the sick and injured to several healers that had been waiting for their return.</p><p>Though Damian, the stubborn idiot had refused to go. Marinette rolled her eyes and bared her teeth, “you are going back to the palace to get healed before you bleed out from that wound or asking me to be your mate will have been in vain dur to your <em>Death.</em>”</p><p>He scoffed. “Please, I’ve had worse shark bites.” Marinette glared at him and Damian sighed in acceptance. “Fine. But you had better be the first face I see getting out of there.”</p><p>Marinette smiled. “Of course Damian.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. No Sleep Brings Stupidity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This is just the first Chapter one of my stories, What Sleep Deprivation Brings, will be continuing.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am going to be honest, the only thing I post is Maribat, may try expanding in the future, but it will always most likely be crossovers.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To be honest, she could not be blamed for what happened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Somehow, Lila was able to convince Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng that Marinette was stealing from the freaking cash register. It was bad enough that they had a shaky relationship since she was ten but to <em>steal </em>from your parent's shop. Why would she do that?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She could literally afford to <em>buy </em>the shop. Hell, she could buy Agreste mansion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But do they believe her? Nooooooooo. They believe some Italian witch with pseudo pigtails that look like freaking sausages on the side of her head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just like everyone else before them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Which has her wondering, who else shares a brain cell with these idiots?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Anyway, her parents have not talked to or even interacted with her in weeks. The shop was a top priority.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Marinette has not slept in over 2 weeks. Between school, Ladybug, MDC, and trying to figure out who Hawkmoth is, sleep just really isn’t on the schedule.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At 2 o’clock in the morning, her phone lights up, and she sees the article, “Bruce Wayne and his adopting addiction”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sitting up, she starts thinking about how she needs a detective to help her. The Waynes interact with the bats a lot, so maybe this should help. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She didn’t think her parents would notice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just her friends. She would call them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She decided this was a good idea, because she had Kaalki to bring her back, and this was also apparently Uncle Jaggeds home town. Those were really good key factors. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>What could go wrong?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was also getting away from Lila <span>Drama™</span>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a win-win.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember, she is <em>really </em>tired, so this all seems logical.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But at this point, she has finally passed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s too late to go back. The papers are sent off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she wakes up in the morning, her first thought is, “Shit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She didn’t actually mean to send off adoption papers to Holy Mother Fucking <em>Bruce Wayne</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She starts calming down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not like he would actually adopt her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Right?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wrong.</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>*BoNuS*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Master Bruce, sir, a letter has been addressed to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Alfred, you can set it down, please.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After he walks out, Bruce opens it, recognizing them as adoption papers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looks at them for a full 30 minutes, wondering when he adopted another one. Thinking he forgot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wouldn’t be the first time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alfred, could you set up a room for a 16-year-old girl. She is a fashion designer, and likes red.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Flowers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>At her new school, Marinette begins to receive mysterious flowers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marinette’s life in her new school had been very… odd. Ever since she joined here, she had a feeling someone was watching her all the time. And the fact that Chloé, who hated everyone with a passion, hadn't said anything mean to her.</p><p> </p><p>And the things she had heard of the school before she had started there, about the ‘gangs’ seemed a bit too exaggerated. While they were there, she had never faced any problem because of them.</p><p> </p><p>She had asked the friends that she had made here about it, but they always diverted the topic immediately. It was a forbidden topic, she concluded.</p><p> </p><p>It had been two months since she joined François Dupont and while all that was odd, it wasn’t the weirdest. Since her second week there, every Monday there was a flower in her locker. While the fact that a flower cannot get into the locker without the locker being opened made her feel concerned, her things had never been tampered with, so she let it slide. Not like she could do anything about it.</p><p> </p><p>But she decided not to tell anyone about it. It felt personal.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>When she received her first flower, she looked up its meaning in the library that day.</p><p> </p><p><strong>ROSE </strong> <em> DARK PINK </em>: Thankfulness.</p><p> </p><p>So she left a note for them on Friday. In neat handwriting she wrote on a card:</p><p>‘Thank you for the rose. Do not open my locker without my consent ever again.’</p><p>She had thought of saying you’re welcome but she had no idea what the mystery person was thankful for.</p><p> </p><p>Next Monday, another flower sat on top of her things.</p><p> </p><p><strong>ROSE </strong><em>WHITE</em>: Innocence And Secrecy.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed. And was immediately met by disapproving glares from the surrounding students and a ‘silence’ from the librarian.</p><p>Innocence and secrecy? They had a great sense of humor. Her next note said:</p><p>‘That was very cheeky of you.’</p><p> </p><p><strong>TULIP</strong><em> YELLOW</em>: There’s Sunshine In Your Smile.</p><p> </p><p>Marinette was very surprised to see it. Had the flower sender seen her last time? Were they seeing her right now? She looked around herself. No one other than one kid at the table that was ten feet away.</p><p>She couldn’t get over the fact that this was real. She had only seen such things in movies. But without a fail at the end of the week, she put a note in her locker.</p><p>‘Thank you.’</p><p> </p><p><strong>ASTER</strong>: Symbol Of Love; Daintiness.</p><p> </p><p>This one made her smile shyly. How was this possible? Surely the sender must be mistaken. She should have known. When she didn’t know what the gratitude was for, she should have seen it then. These are for someone else. So she put another note.</p><p>‘Are you sure you are getting the correct locker? I don’t think I’m the one you want to send these flowers to.’</p><p> </p><p><strong>TULIP </strong> <em> RED </em>: Believe Me, Declaration Of Love.</p><p> </p><p>When she picked up the flower, she noticed a note under it. On card, it was typed,</p><p>‘There is no mistaking you, M’lady.’</p><p> </p><p>This time, her note said, ‘Who are you?’</p><p> </p><p><strong>CAMELLIA</strong>: Admiration, Perfection, Good Luck, Gift to man.</p><p> </p><p>‘Cocky much?’</p><p> </p><p>And so they conversed. She used words and the sender used the language of flowers.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>She received a Monkshood today. She only knew that was the name of the flower by looking up a ‘long purple stem-my flowers’.</p><p> </p><p><strong>MONKSHOOD</strong>: Beware, A Deadly Foe Is Near.</p><p> </p><p>She fidgeted with her hands, sitting on one of the stairs near the courtyard. She had stayed back for some student government work as she was the class president. She was waiting for the documents for the after school clubs to get approved by sitting in the courtyard, “watching” the fencing practice.</p><p> </p><p>She had been taken aback by the flower she had received. There was a foe? A threat? Was the mystery person referring to the gang? She had no idea. However as the day passed being uneventful she felt slightly comforted.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as she got her papers, she began to head home. But then a boy ran up to her and started walking next to her. She didn’t really know him, so she didn’t say anything. Was this the threat? What if he was the rumoured gang leader? She hadn’t been inconvenienced yet and she didn’t want to change that. But the flower was making her more and more nervous. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He had brown eyes and brown hair in a man bun. And a small goatee. From what she had heard the gang leader, who was a year ahead of her apparently was blonde and famous.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re really pretty, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>The comment caught her off guard. That was something she wasn’t expecting at all. “W-what?”</p><p> </p><p>“I said, you’re really pretty… Marinette. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”</p><p>Seeing that he read her name off of her ID card, she made a note to herself to flip it over now on. She also noticed his ID card around his neck.</p><p>“Thank you, Theo?”</p><p>“Oh, I love the way you say my name darling.” He was now standing directly in her way. She had a slowly growing bad feeling about this.</p><p>“Oh uh… I am getting late, so uh could you get aside? I need to go…”</p><p>“But, it’s so much fun don’t you wanna have more fun?”</p><p>“Maybe later, I really need to go.” It was too late that Marinette realised she was in one of the most secluded corners of the hallways surrounding the courtyard.</p><p>Theo slowly moved toward her, effectively trapping her against the wall.</p><p>“Why later baby doll, don’t be in such a hurry. I won’t do you any harm to stay for a while…” he began to put his arms around her.</p><p>And that  was it. Marinette was not going to waste any time here anymore. Thanking the gods for having a mother who was good at martial arts and understood their importance, she put one hand on the back of his neck and immediately head-butted him, she kicked at his knees and bolted to the main gate of the school.</p><p> </p><p>It happened. A foe was near.</p><p> </p><p>The next day she found out Theo was from another class in her year and also a member of the  ‘gang’. She also noticed that the whole week, he was nowhere to be seen. When he finally came to school, he had casts on one of his arms and legs. His hair was also pretty messily cut up. She heard some students say that was the sign of being punished and exiled from the ‘gang’.</p><p> </p><p>That Friday, her note said:</p><p>‘Did you do it?’</p><p> </p><p>And then she spent a weekend of anxiety. What if they did? But it was the gang right? But why had that happened? Was it because of how he behaved with her? Was it because she was able to get away?</p><p>The last one scared her the most.</p><p> </p><p>She also had a thought, what if the flower sender was a part of the gang? But then again, who wasn’t? Most of the boys and girls were a part of this gang. Some would blend in the normal kids and the others were… good at standing out.</p><p> </p><p>Nathaniel Kurtzburg, he was in her class and a discrete member of the gang. She found that out because like her, he was also an artist. He just casually said it while they were talking about a brand of pencils. She would have never guessed otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>Alix Kubdel, she was also in her class. She was an athlete and active member of the gang. So many times she had seen her beat up some kids, command some, talk to other members. And the common emblem pin on their jackets which for Alix was on her shoes and skates was a big give away. The silhouette of a black cat. She knew it was a black cat because Nathaniel told her. It represented bad luck.</p><p> </p><p>And then there was Nino Lahiffe. He was the boyfriend of one the people she had gotten closest to, Alya Cesaire. Nino was an upperclassman and a member of the gang. He did not behave hostile at all. She had not seen him hurt anyone ever. But apparently he was high up in the gang. And kids would listen to him always. He never even had to raise his voice, even with the rowdiest of them. His appearance was a dead giveaway. A cap with an embroidered black cat, piercings, a buzz cut with two lines shaved on the left that were continued with two cuts on his eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>If there was one thing odd about this gang, it was that they always wore the uniform, even if it was with add ons, they were always in uniform which had not been messed with.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Sluggishly slow, the weekend passed and it was finally Monday.</p><p> </p><p><strong>DAISY</strong>: Innocence, Loyal Love, I’ll Never Tell, Purity.</p><p> </p><p>Was this? A no? She couldn’t tell. Even if it was a yes, there really wasn’t anything she could do. She cannot stop the breaking in, even if she complained of it. Such complaints weren't even taken in this school. Anyway if they were a part of the gang, she did not want to piss them off.</p><p> </p><p>The rest of her week went on normally, except she talked to Nino for the first time. He had come over during lunch, to talk to Alya. He also asked her how she was doing. He was so friendly, the whole time. Like a normal person. But when other gang members passed by and tipped their caps (if they were wearing any) to him, it reminded her each time of who she was sitting for lunch with.</p><p> </p><p>That Friday, her note read:</p><p>‘Are you a part of the gang?’</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>A pink carnation. She had opened the book to see that a pink carnation meant I’ll never forget you, but that didn’t really fit inas the answer to her question. And then she found the one she was looking for. Her carnation was one colour throughout. That had its own category.</p><p> </p><p><strong>CARNATION </strong> <em>SOLID COLOUR</em>: Yes.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>She had decided. She would look for them. It had to be someone around her. She looked at the list she had penned in the journal where she kept all the flowers pressed in between the pages.</p><p> </p><p>First she wrote down all the gang members she knew.</p><p> </p><p>Nathaniel, her classmate and friend.</p><p>Alix, her classmate.</p><p>Kim, her classmate.</p><p>Juleka, her classmate and friend.</p><p>Rose, upperclassman and friendly to her.</p><p>Nino, her upperclassman and friend.</p><p>Ivan, her classmate.</p><p>Mylene, a friend from the other class.</p><p>Theo, that guy.</p><p>Aurore, friend from Theo’s class.</p><p>Tikki, student president.</p><p>Plagg, vice president.</p><p>Wayzz, secretary.</p><p>Kagami, a good friend from the other class.</p><p> </p><p>She immediately cancelled out Nathaniel, who was dating Marc; Juleka and Rose; Nino; Ivan and Mylene; Theo; Tikki and Plagg.</p><p> </p><p>Alix, Kim, Aurore, Wayzz and Kagami. These were her primary suspects.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p><strong>MYRTLE</strong>: Love, Hebrew Emblem Of Marriage.</p><p> </p><p>She blushed. Her question, ‘What kind of love?’ had been answered.</p><p> </p><p>So now she knew what to look for. The flower sender felt romantic love for her. She knew that there was a possibility that the person was not on her list at all. And then there was the thing that she would have to talk to everyone on the list to make out anything at all.</p><p> </p><p>And she was kind of scared of Alix. She was one fierce gang member. Kim was slightly more friendly.</p><p> </p><p>So she talked to Kagami when the two went out for orange juice. Kagami was not the best at expressing emotions. But the thought that she could be the one putting flowers in her locker made her flush slightly. Kagami was very attractive, but their friendship started out on a sour note, and she was dating Luka at that time, so she had not really seen her in that light before. The fact that they weren't the best of friends at first also made her doubt the whole thing. And Kagami didn't really have that sort of sense of humor. So she decided to cancel out Kagami from the list.</p><p> </p><p>Then she found out that Alix was aromantic. Kim was in a relationship with someone. That narrowed down the list even more. Progress had been made!</p><p> </p><p>Now she was left with Aurore and Wayzz, both of whom she didn’t interact much with.</p><p> </p><p>Alya had seen her scribbling in her notebook. Naturally she was curious why she had the names Aurore and Wayzz written on the page and circled multiple times. Marinette only got away by making up some absurd excuse which thankfully Alya believed.</p><p> </p><p>Then Friday rolled around and she had thought a lot of what to put on her note and had come to the conclusion that she would put nothing at all. Would they not put a flower? If they would, what kind?</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p><strong>CAMELLIA </strong> <em> WHITE </em>: You’re Adorable.</p><p> </p><p>Her cheeks were tinted with a growing blush as she sat on a seat in the library, so close to a scowl. The flower lay on the table.</p><p> </p><p>This time there was a note. Typed in black letters, it said:</p><p>‘How adorable of you, trying to find me? I assure you, this cat is not Aurore or Wayzz. If you need a name to call me with, Chat Noir will suffice. ;3’</p><p> </p><p>A CATMOJI. And a name with direct connections to the gang. And the flower that made her blush and she let out a cry of frustration as she walked back to class. No leads.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Adrien Agreste, second year student at Francois Dupont and the young but good leader of the gang, stood in the aisle in the library that kept books on animals. The one right beside the aisle with books related to plants and botany.</p><p> </p><p>He smiled at the girl with midnight black hair, walking out of the library with a huff. The one who used to come every Monday with a flower to the library. The flower that he kept in her locker.</p><p> </p><p>He thought of what she would say next. Perhaps nothing again? If so, he could give her a thornless rose, to see if that jogs up her memory.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>He had a bad fight with one of the boys. He had said to them that bullies are not tolerated and will get punished. And they did get what they deserved. But they didn’t give in without a fight. Many spots on his body were burning. They were going to bruise. His father would be angry and again, they would have an argument where his father would ask him to give up on his “phase”. He shook his head in exasperation.</p><p> </p><p>It was raining and he was near some old residential area, his phone was dead which meant he had no way to contact his driver. He really didn’t want to find out that he had more injuries from them burning in the rain.</p><p> </p><p>And then, a girl who was passing by, stopped. She had a polka dotted umbrella. Ladybug style. She extended her umbrella to him. “Go home carefully.” she had said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t been able to think of anything other than her that whole week.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p><br/><strong>ROSE </strong> <em> THORNLESS </em>: Love At First Sight.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Source for flower meanings:   http://thelanguageofflowers.com/</p><p>Hope you enjoyed reading this :)</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Your Name, My Name</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Daminette Soulmate AU</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>...I wrote this fic to bribe a friend to sleep but I'm posting it here as my chapter. And thank you for inviting me to co-create in this!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>What would you do if one day instead of writing your name on your exam paper you write someone else's? Erase it, rewrite, right? The thing is, no matter how many times you try to change it, it always ends up the same. It's not your name written, but a random person's. You would probably freak out. Could you have forgotten how to write your name? Or was someone unknowingly controlling your body? Well, you wouldn't if you were in this universe. In this universe, it is very much normal if you write someone's name unconsciously thinking it's your own you are jotting down. But why? Simplest answer? Soulmates. The name you would've written down, would be your soulmate's. Of course, this only happens after you turn 16 but it won't stop until you meet your soulmate… or your soulmate dies... Yeah, let's hope for the first option. With that information in your head, let me tell you the story of how this power couple met. </p><hr/><p>6 years, it's been six years since his mother dropped him at his father's doorstep. And in those six years Damian Wayne couldn't believe how much he's changed. Physically, he is much taller, he has a broader chest, and a deeper voice. Mentally, he no longer has the urge to kill, he does whatever he can do to avoid it. Emotionally, he feels love, happiness even though he doesn't show it. And now on his sixteenth birthday he is actually excited to be dragged around by Grayson. Apparently Dick had other plans. </p><p>"Happy birthday, Damian!" Dick shouted as the younger boy descended down the stairs to the dining room. "Thank you, Grayson," Damian replied. Breakfast went on as normal, added by a couple of hugs and birthday wishes. But normalcy can only last so long in the Wayne household. "So…’Dick dragged out, "You excited to figure out your soulmate's name?" Damian blinked. "What is a 'soulmate'," he said, putting quotations around the word. Everyone at the table stared. <em> 'You don't know what a soulmate is?' </em>Their looks screamed. Finally, Bruce answered, "A soulmate would be someone who is destined to be by your side. It could be a platonic bond or a romantic bond." Damian nodded as a sign that he understood then continued, "And how do you discover your soulmate's name?" The whole family gave him the basic rundown even though they were still reeling in from the shock that Damian didn't know about soulmates. </p><p>After breakfast, they all gathered in the living room. There was a pile of gifts all wrapped up and addressed to Damian. After opening them one by one and making notes on who he needs to thank later, someone shoved a pen and paper into his hands. "So? What are you waiting for? Write your name!" Steph said enthusiastically. (Alfred was recording, shh, it's a secret) Damian did just so and on the paper was soon written in neat handwriting the words <em> Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 'Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you must be an angel if the universe decided to pair you with me.' </em></p><hr/><p>A couple of days later, across the ocean, a Marinette Dupain-Cheng had just also turned 16. As soon as she woke up, she rushed down to find her parents who wished her a happy birthday as soon as they saw her. "Maman, Papa, do you have paper? I want to know who my soulmate is," the girl asked her parents. Marinette's been waiting for this day her entire life! Well, except that year she had her first crush. That year she was worried. <em> 'What if her crush isn't her soulmate?' </em>But it fizzled out after a year, and aside from that year she had been ecstatic. </p><p>Instead of plain white paper like she was expecting, her parents gave her a pink card decorated with ladybugs, since she had been obsessing over them for a good while, along with a glitter pen and a frame. "It's the first time you're writing their name sweetheart, it needs to be special," her mother Sabine said. Marinette hugged her parents and took the items out of their grips. She set them on the table and began writing in faux calligraphy. <em> Damian Wayne </em> was written on the card <em> . 'Well, Damian, I'm excited to meet you." </em></p><hr/><p>Two years later, Marinette had applied for an exchange student program wanting to travel the world now that Hawkmoth isn't tying her to Paris. She ended up in Gotham, New Jersey and she had never been more grateful that she had taken up self defence when Hawkmoth showed up. Thanks to Jagged, she had a very comfortable place to live. And as for where, she would be living with her 'uncle'. Jagged, as a native Gothamite, had a mansion on the safe side of the city and it was by no means small. When Jagged mentioned his old friend Bruce Wayne, Marinette was intrigued. "Is he related to someone named Damian Wayne by any chance?" she asked. </p><p>"Damian Wayne? Of course, Damian is ol' Brucie's son!" Jagged answered her. She then proceeded to tell her self proclaimed uncle that her soulmate's name is in fact, Damian Wayne. The next thing you know Marinette is being dragged out to Jagged's car, well it was more of a limousine rather than a car, and he asked the driver to drive them to the Wayne Mansion as he dialed Bruce.</p><p>"Hello?" the voice from the other line came in. "Rock 'n Roll Brucie! I'm heading off to your place! And I've got my niece with me," Jagged said. "I'm not your niece Jagged!" Marinette said. As soon as she said that, a faint "It's contagious!" could be heard from the other side followed by a "Boys!" "Sure Jagged, I'll tell Alfred," Bruce said to his friend. "Thanks Bruce! See ya in a bit!" </p><p>Not even thirty minutes later, they pull up at the big mansion. An old gentleman introduced himself as Alfred before letting them enter. "Brucie!" Jagged raced to him and gave him a hug, "Ya look older than the last time I saw you. Anyway, this is my niece!" "I'm still not your niece, Jagged," the girl mumbled as she rolled her eyes, "Pleasure to meet you." The eldest Wayne child smiled brightly and introduced himself, "Hi! I'm Dick! This is Jason, Steph, Barbara, Tim, Cass, Duke, and that is-" "Damian, Damian Wayne," the youngest cut off. Marinette smiled and stuck her hand out to initiate a handshake. </p><p>"Why hello, Damian. My name is Marinette, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."</p><p>
  
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm surprised that I wrote 1087 words tbh, my stories usually end with around 500 words. Oh, and I made this into <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZI2S7_mU5o--CviVAi0-Ky3TUWcX1laJ/view?usp=sharing">an audiofic</a> (it's my very first so don't expect it to be good). If the hyperlink doesn't work try this; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZI2S7_mU5o--CviVAi0-Ky3TUWcX1laJ/view?usp=sharing</p><p>XOXO<br/>~𝓔𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓮𝓷</p>
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